Not Just a Nightmare
by LightningFuryStrike13
Summary: Chris wakes from a nightmare of his daughter's death but the phone says it's three years in the past.


Chris sat up quickly without a sound. He was too well trained to wake up screaming and crying but it was close. Then again dreaming of your daughter dying was enough to break the strongest of men. He sighed, knowing he wasn't getting any more sleep that night. He swung his legs out of the covers and stopped when he felt the hard wood beneath his feet instead of the cheap carpet in the hotel room he'd checked into hours ago. He looked around the shadowed room for a moment seeing half unpacked boxes and an open window looking out over a dense forest.

He recognized this room. This was his room in the Beacon Hills house. He groped for his phone plugged in on the bedside table like always noticing that it was about 3 years out of date. Still even the old phone told him the date and time. What was this some kind of joke? He pulled a knife out and sliced a thin line over his hirsute arm. The pain was real…

He jumped up and rushed out of the room, down the hall to the door at the end. He threw open the door and dodged the thrown dagger with the ease of long practice. There she was. Beautiful by moonlight as she was in daylight. His daughter. His beautiful living breathing daughter.

"Ally." He rushed her then sitting on the bed and pulling her up out of the covers and into his arms. "Ally." He pressed his face into her hair and just breathed in the scent of her shampoo. The smell of his little girl. His warm and very much alive little girl.

"Daddy? Are you okay? What's wrong?"

Chris took another deep breath. He didn't know what was happening. This wasn't a dream. His still bleeding arm stung. He appeared to be in his body three years ago but with a mind that had lost his whole family in the next few months. He squeezed Allison. "Daddy had a bad dream baby."

"Okay?"

"You died. It was so real. When I woke up…I had to make sure you were okay."

"Oh Daddy. I'm fine. You trained me remember? No one's gonna hurt me." She hugged him back and gods did that feel good.

"That's right. No one is ever gonna hurt you. Daddy's gonna make sure of it." And he was. Because if this was Beacon Hills three years ago. If that date was right and this wasn't a dream then somewhere out in the woods was a feral Peter Hale hunting for a beta to turn and Scott McCall was out there stumbling around blind and vulnerable.

He kissed Allison's forehead. "Go back to sleep baby girl. Big day tomorrow."

"Another new school. Yay. Are you sure you're okay Daddy? You're bleeding."

"I had to make sure this wasn't a dream too."

"Most people pinch themselves I've heard."

Chris chuckled as he tucked her back in like he hadn't since she was a little girl. "I had to make extra sure." He leaned over and kissed her forehead again. "Daddy loves you Baby Girl."

"I love you too, Daddy."

Chris smiled as he backed out of the room before gently closing the door. He turned to find

Victoria staring at him accusingly.

"What?"

"What was that? What were you doing in her room?" Her tone was suspicious.

Chris frowned before brushed past her. "I had a bad dream. Ally died in it. I just wanted to make sure she was alright."

"Without your clothes?"

Chris looked down seeing he was only wearing his briefs. Oops. He just jumped out of bed without a thought. He hoped Allison wasn't thinking what Victoria clearly was. He shook his head. "Get your mind out of the gutter. I didn't even think before I was out of bed and heading to Allison's room." He ignored his wife in name only returning to his room to get dressed.

Unfortunately she followed.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm not gonna be able to sleep after that dream. I'm gonna do a sweep of the forest." He grabbed some tactical clothing out of an open box. He felt exposed in front of Victoria.

"I can call you Daddy if that's what it takes."

Chris flinched. "Don't be sick. I didn't do anything to Allison. I would never. I'm asexual Victoria. Not a pedophile." Unlike my sister. Chris rubbed his face tiredly before continuing to dress. Strapping on his guns, knives, restraints, wolfsbane, and his trusty crossbow. Victoria was still standing in the doorway watching him.

He walked up to her and she stood on tiptoe to brush a kiss on his cheek. He flinched. She frowned and slapped him. He couldn't help it. To his mind Victoria had been dead for almost three years. She kissed him on the mouth this time and he didn't move but he didn't respond.

Her mouth twisted but she finally stood aside.

He rushed out to his SUV and sped out to the spot in the preserve closest to the hospital. With any luck he'd get Peter before Peter got Scott. Along the way he reached for the antibacterial wipes and swiped at his cheek and lips. What was his plan here? Stop Peter then what?

What needed to change to protect his daughter? That was the most important thing by far. He needed to keep Gerald and Kate away from Allison. He didn't want her trained to be a hunter.

Self-defense was fine. Archery was a wonderful hobby but Chris knew too much about werewolves to want his life for his daughter. Hell there at the end it felt like he was adopting every wayward teen wolf that crossed his path. Isaac, Derek, Scott to some extent. Even Peter had wormed his way into Chris' heart. Yes they could go feral and kill people but how many people had Kate, Gerald, Victoria, even Chris himself killed? Far more than the blue eyed Peter and Derek had. Who was really the monster here? It was a question he'd asked himself over and over the last few years as he worked with werewolves to protect this town.

He walked a few hundred years into woods outside of the hospital and waited. It didn't take long.

It was almost 1 am when a nurse opened the back door and Peter walked out. He pulled his hospital gown off and stood there in the moonlight nude and gorgeous. Chris sighed. Peter had never not been beautiful. Nevertheless Chris brought his crossbow up and took aim as the admiring nurse retreated back into the hospital.

He fired two bolts quickly one into each thigh muscle. As Peter went down with a furious growl Chris rushed up and hit him with a way overpowered Taser. In Peter's twitching aftermath Chris quickly rolled him over and slapped the mountain ash inlaid restraints on him. He had the other man up over his shoulder and walking back to his SUV inside of five minutes after the nurse had let him out.

He gently laid Peter out in the back seat and securely fastened him so he wouldn't roll around as he drove him back to his house. It wasn't exactly easy but he was significantly quieter carrying Peter up the stairs to his room than he'd been in his mad rush down the hall to Allison's room.

He laid Peter out on his bed avoiding the wolf's furious red eyes. Peter would have probably tried to get away by now if he was able to move at all. Chris had him fully reined in with werewolf enhanced prison transport and hospital restraints. He still had two crossbow bolts in his thighs keeping the wolfsbane in his system. No. Chris knew Peter. He was taking no chances.

Once Peter was securely attached to Chris' bed he removed the crossbow bolts gently and made sure to light the wolfsbane out of Peter's sight though he still whimpered at the sound and smell of the fire. "Sorry." Chris whispered as he rubbed in the ash. Afterwards he covered Peter's beautiful body with a soft blanket. Finally at almost 3 am he laid down next to Peter. The wolf's eyes still glowed red as he stared at Chris.

Chris sighed. "Tonight around eleven I woke up with the memories of what happens here in Beacon Hills over the next three years. The biggest thing for me was that my daughter died. Killed by an innocent young boy possessed by the nogitsune buried under the damaged Nematon. I would do anything to prevent that Peter. Anything. You got the ball rolling. Planting that deer. Getting Laura here. Getting me here though we both know you're really gunning for my sick sister and twisted father. Tonight you would have bitten an innocent boy and through the efforts of his clever friend, a genius banshee, and your nephew it would have ultimately resulted in your death. Your death without the assurance of my sister's death."

Peter growled but his red eyes had faded to his natural baby blues as he listened.

"I want to help you. First things first you need to get stable Peter. I'd let you bite me if I didn't know my family would kill us both in a second if they knew." Chris had thought about asking for the bite plenty over the last three years but being beholden to a boy young enough to be his son wouldn't have worked. Peter though. A sane, rational, snarky Peter? Yeah he could see calling him Alpha easily.

"Derek's in town. Or should be getting here in the next few hours. You know he actually gets arrested for Laura's murder at one point? Even though it should be beyond easy to check that he was in New York at the time?" Chris shook his head. "I'll go get him tomorrow. Explain what's going on. Come up with a better reason than losing control for killing Laura by the way. Derek's not stupid. He could hear the lie and he holds that against you for a long time. Did you cut her in two by the way? Because it wasn't me."

Peter nodded with what would probably be a sigh if not for the gag.

"So be thinking of what you're going to tell Derek. He's had a bad time of it Peter. He never ever talks about his life these last four years with Laura but both of us did some digging behind his back. Laura dragged him back to New York where she was in college and then from what we're able to piece together he was her only beta and she just about uses him up. I don't know what the dynamic between you and Talia was but Laura may have been copying it with Derek."

Peter winced.

"Yeah. You looked like that when both our contacts came back telling us about Derek's life in New York. So be easy with him Peter. He'll probably be beyond happy to see you up and about. Once he's bonded to you I'll let you free of the restraints. Hell if you bond me as much as you can a human tonight I will at the very least remove the gag and the belt. We can cuddle if you're touch starved. I understand if you can't tolerate that or trust me enough for it yet."

Peter flicked his eyes down at his restraints and shot Chris a red eyed glare.

"In the future I left behind, we'd cuddle sometimes. Became quite good friends eventually if you can believe that…or well you can hear my heart. You know I've not lied."

Peter tilted his head in that way he recognized from years working with werewolves. It was somewhat canine and not entirely necessary he knew. More something the werewolves did to signal that they were listening to their human companions. He sighed and shook his head.

"Can't trust me enough right now? That's okay I don't blame you. Good night Peter. Try to get some sleep. I'll find Derek tomorrow and bring him to you." Chris closed his eyes and didn't quite fall asleep but did lay there gradually relaxing. He heard Peter move about gently testing his restraints but Chris wasn't worried. Between the black box and belly chain Peter wasn't getting free.

When the sun crept into his room he got up and redressed in more casual clothes. "I'm gonna make breakfast. I'll bring you up something in a little while. Try not to make too much noise. My wife will kill you in a second. We don't want that." Chris resisted the urge to pet on the bound man.

Downstairs he made bacon waffles, Allison's favorite, for breakfast and gratefully accepted a hug from her when she came downstairs. He held her a little longer than normal and he knew she felt a little uncomfortable with his staring. "Sorry baby girl. That dream…it wasn't just you dying. It was living with it for years. Mourning you. Having to get over the fact that I was never gonna see you again and…it was bad. I'm probably gonna be a bit clingy for a bit. Sorry. I'll try not to embarrass you in front of your new friends or anything."

"If I make any."

"Oh you'll make plenty of friends. I talked to the Sheriff a few weeks ago on the phone. His son is in your grade. Stiles I think he said he was called. Seems like a friendly boy."

"I'll look for him."

Victoria came downstairs still looking at him strangely but had a smile and a hug for their daughter. She took her to school and Chris plated up breakfast with plenty of bacon and orange juice which he knew Peter loved. He carried everything upstairs.

"Breakfast time. Not to brag but I'm a fairly good cook. Of course anything would be better than hospital food right?"

Peter whimpered at the smell of bacon. Chris didn't blame him.

"Okay. Now I'm sure…well I'm not sure but I assume you'd rather have clothes on. I know you're completely unashamed of your nudity and justly so given how…well beautiful you are but anyway clothes. We're about the same size. I know it's not the super fancy stuff you're used to but I promise to give you my softest clothes if you promise not to kick me. What do you say?"

Peter raised one eyebrow before wiggling the gag in his mouth.

"Oh yes let me remove the restraint on the most dangerous part of the alpha werewolf. That's a great idea." Chris sighed. He sat Peter up on the edge of the bed and gently removed the gag before quickly removing his hands from Peter's bite range.

Peter licked his lips dryly with a glare and Chris retrieved the orange juice with its straw. "Your favorite."

Peter sucked the glass dry very quickly with a satisfied sigh.

"There we go. Feel better?"

"I'd feel better if you'd let me bite and bind you." Peter snarked.

"If I thought I could hide it from my wife, sister, and father I'd let you but we need them to come here peacefully and unaware. Lambs to the slaughter. Being suddenly unable to handle wolfsbane, mountain ash or mistletoe would pretty much be a dead giveaway."

"You're really gonna let me kill your family?"

"As long as I have your word you'll never hurt my daughter I'll nail the rest of my family to the Nematon and let you ritualistically sacrifice them to the Mother Moon." Chris told him bluntly knowing he was listening to his heart.

Peter raised one eyebrow. "I have your word you mean my nephew and me no harm? You only want to help us in return for your daughter's safety."

"You have my word."

Peter nodded. "I would appreciate clothes and getting out of these restraints."

Chris took a deep breath. "I'm concerned about how stable you are. I remember you were the wrong side of mad in my first go round here. I'll feel better once Derek's bonded to you."

"I can bind you without biting you."

"Okay."

"Okay? Just like that?"

"I know who you are when you're sane Peter. I don't have a problem calling you Alpha I just want you sane first. The Peter I know wouldn't have been so sloppy killing Kate's accomplices either. You have any idea how many mountain lions I had to catch, release, then hunt down to cover your nonsense? You even got caught transforming on camera. I had to pay a pretty penny to get that footage disposed of."

"I suppose you have a better way?"

"Between the two of us I've killed many more people and gotten away with it." Chris rolled his eyes.

"Werewolves you mean?"

"Still people."

Peter looked a little shocked. "You're not what I expected Argent."

"Given what you were probably expecting I'll take that as a compliment. Now. Bacon waffles?"

Peter lifted his still very shackled hands. "How are you gonna dress me?"

"Very carefully." Chris smirked at him. Chris undid the cuffs one at a time as he dressed Peter in a soft blue Henley, briefs, and soft, worn in jeans. He tried to hide his own response to dressing Peter's lovely body. Burn scars aside Peter was beautifully formed. He replaced the hospital restraints with bathroom restraints.

"Is all this really necessary?" Peter asked in a persuasive voice.

Chris snorted. "Yeah no I'm not that dumb. You'll get those off after Derek gets here."

He retrieved the tray and started cutting it up to make it easier for Peter to eat while he told him about the next three years and what they could do to stop it.

"My nephew bit how many teenagers?"

"Four. Jackson, who he thought rejected the bite and kind of abandoned who then became a kamina. He seduced an epileptic girl and changed her, Isaac he saved from an abusive father who'd left him in a grave under a backhoe. Boyd I think was just lonely but that's good 'cause he was by far the most stable beta he had."

"What an idiot."

"Cut Derek some slack. No one else did. It wasn't until years later when he was losing his powers, at the time we didn't know why, that he came to me asking for self-defense training that I began to actually understand the boy. First and foremost you need to remember Derek is a boy, not a man. He's young. So young. He lost his girlfriend, his best friend, that would be you. Then without you there to protect him he was raped by my sadistic sister and then in part because of that lost his entire family. Then his sister abused him for four years then he lost her too."

Peter winced.

"That's the Derek that's on his way here. Strip away the strength, the speed, and the pretty face and what you have is a lost scared teenager who just really needs a hug and a fuckton of therapy. Then he gets here and has to kill his beloved but psycho uncle and boom he's alpha. Something he never asked for, never wanted, and most importantly was never trained for. He sought out people like himself. The needy, the abused, the lonely and turned them hoping to make a family only for them to desert him when the Alpha pack came calling and they mistook his overprotectiveness and harsh training for abuse instead of him trying desperately to make them strong enough to survive." Chris shook his head.

Once he'd actually started thinking about Derek's life it made him sick. Yet there he was. Still trying to protect Beacon Hills. Still trying to protect the baby werewolves behind him. Even now. Even after all his family did to him Derek had gone out of his way to protect Allison knowing she was an Argent. Despite everything that had happened to him Derek, at his core, was a good person. To Chris' knowledge Derek had never murdered anyone but Peter either and that was under extreme duress and once again to save Allison. Paige, in Chris' opinion, didn't count. She was already dead. Derek just sped up the process. Boyd had literally been forced back on to Derek's claws.

Chris sighed and cleared the empty dishes away. "Okay. I need to go find Derek."

"You'll tell me the rest later?"

"Yeah. Tell both of you."

"Will your wife be home today?"

"Not until later. She's meeting with the Junior League." Chris couldn't stop his eyes from rolling.

"If you can believe that. It's all part of the façade. I fucking hate it."

"What else do you hate about the façade?" Peter asked with a raised eyebrow.

Chris sighed. Fucking werewolves. You couldn't hide anything from them. "I'm gay. The marriage is name only. I produced my daughter with her under the influence of a lot of drugs. I've told her I'm asexual but… she keeps trying. It's...never been a good situation. Gerald arranged the marriage. He couldn't have a gay son. Although having a pedophile for a daughter is fine apparently." Chris growled.

He rubbed his face tiredly. "I never had the balls to divorce her. Not with my dad and sister hanging over us. That and I can't lose Allison. She is a good mother…to a point. I don't want Allison to become a hunter. I never have. Even less now that I've lived the next three years. I actually ended up adopting Isaac and sort of adopting Scott and Derek. Werewolves are NOT the monsters I was raised to believe they are."

"If you didn't have the balls to divorce her and you ended up adopting wolf cubs…?"

"Gerald convinces Victoria to go after Scott. Derek protected him but bit Victoria in self-defense. This was while Derek was an alpha. Once again a sign that Derek had no training in being an alpha. I've seen alphas fight. They're very careful NOT to use their teeth for this very reason. Anyway Gerald convinces Victoria to do the 'proper' thing and kill herself when she started to turn. Gerald then used her mother's death to turn Allison against werewolves and together they led a crusade to wipe out Derek and his pack."

Chris sighed. "This was actually all part of an extremely convoluted plan, which Scott was in on, to capture Derek. Gerald is dying of cancer. He knows the bite will cure him. Then I suppose the next step was to kill Derek and gain the Hale Alpha spark."

"What went wrong?"

"Apparently instead of warning Derek or Stiles or me or Allison or anyone Scott went to Deaton who gave him these mountain ash pills which Scott then somehow switched with Gerald's cancer meds. With the mountain ash in his system of course Gerald immediately started to reject the bite…or so it seemed. I put him in a nursing home. I expected him to die soon but the old bastard just kept holding on. Somehow he survived. As did Kate. Turns out if an alpha's claws go deep enough that can turn someone as well. Which neither of us knew. Gerald showed up to claim Kate's body before I could bury her. Where he took her or what he did with her I don't know. I was already pretty disgusted with her for wiping out your completely peaceful pack."

Peter snarled. "Derek and I were the only blue eyed wolves. You know him but I was Talia's Left Hand. I put down the omegas that entered our territory. To condemn me is to condemn yourself."

"I know Peter. I know. My eyes would be just as blue as yours or Derek's. Hell I've probably killed a lot more than you have." Chris stood up with a sigh. "Do you want to lay back down? I can move you to a chair if you like. No TV in here but I could turn on the radio."

"I'll be fine."

"Okay. I'll be back sooner with Derek. Hopefully he'll come with me peacefully."

* * *

Finding Derek was remarkably easy. He gravitated to the burnt out shell of his house as sure as anything. He spun around when he heard Chris' SUV looking more like a nervous rabbit than a wolf. He remembered the first time he'd seen Derek. Big, handsome wolf. He'd been certain Derek, a blue eyed wolf, was a vicious killer that just hadn't been caught yet. That he was a dangerous beast.

Now all he could see was a scared kid trying to puff himself up to seem scary but was actually terrified and trying not to cry. He wondered if Derek had found Laura yet or not. He hoped he'd gotten here in time to spare the boy that.

"Hello Derek."

"Who are you? This is Private Property."

"I know. My name is Chris. I know your uncle Peter. He's awake and safe at my house. I want to take you to him."

Derek's nose flared and Chris could see the tenseness in his body. How he struggled not to take a step back from the wolfsbane he could smell coming from Chris. Derek had once told Chris that wolfsbane seemed to be imbedded in his scent.

Chris raised his hands showing he wasn't holding a weapon. "Derek. Listen to me. Listen to my heart. I know you can tell when I'm lying. Are you listening?"

Derek nodded hesitatingly.

"I know you can smell I'm a hunter. My name is Chris Argent. Yes, Kate is my sister. It was horrible what she did to you. Horrible what SHE did, not you, to your family. I'm working with your Uncle Peter to take Kate out. Your Uncle Peter is at my house. I want to take you back there. Both of you need to bond. Once you have I will explain everything else. I promise."

"Why can't you explain everything now?"

"Mostly because I don't want to repeat myself." Chris told him honestly. That and he wasn't 100% sure a curious couple of boys weren't hiding in the woods right now listening to them.

Derek looked conflicted.

Chris didn't blame him. His instincts must be at war. He knew Chris hadn't lied but getting into a car with a hunter was against his better judgement.

"You don't have to ride in the car with me. I realize that's a degree of trust we don't have yet. But you can follow me back to my house. I know you're more than fast enough."

Derek nodded finally.

Chris sighed and lowered his hands. "Okay. Let's go. We don't have much time."

* * *

Victoria was home and Chris winced.

"That car belongs to my wife. Her viciousness is only rivaled by Kate. Don't let her see you. My room is around back, second floor. That's where Peter is. We have to be quiet. I'll be up as soon as I've gotten by her. Wait out of sight please." Ducking his head to gather his things out of the passenger seat to hide his mouth in case Victoria was watching he spoke out loud. He knew Derek could hear him. Hell Peter could hear him. Hopefully he was quiet and Victoria hadn't found him. She rarely tried to go into Chris' room. He kept it locked.

He walked into the house trying not to glance around to see if Derek had followed his instructions.

"Where have you been?"

"Sweeping the forest."

"Didn't you do that last night?"

"Yeah and I'm gonna keep doing it until I get the omega running around here." Chris tried to walk past her but she put an arm across the door leading to the stairs.

"About what we talked about last night."

Chris hid his panic. Last night? Last night was three years ago. Sure he remembered the pertinent details surrounding Peter's movements from this time, he'd noted them down in his files, but a conversation with his barely tolerable wife? Not so much.

"And what did we talk about last night?" Chris tried to deflect her with sarcasm.

"About your…preferences."

Oh. That conversation. The one after he'd woken up in the past. The one where she'd thought he was a pedophile like his sister.

Chris didn't even try to hide his very wolf-like snarl. "I'm not a pedophile Victoria. I had a nightmare our daughter died. That she was viciously stabbed by an oni and bled out in my arms. I dreamt about living each day without her for years. When I woke up I barely knew where I was let alone what I was wearing!"

Victoria slapped him hard across the face and just like he had for years Chris took the abuse without a word. He fought with himself not to backhand her. Not to fling her across the room like a ragdoll.

"Perhaps you can convince me." She wasn't subtle about slipping her hand between his legs and trying to rub him.

Chris didn't have the work to control himself. All he needed was this woman's face in front of him and he remained limp as a noodle. "You know I can't respond without the drugs and I can't afford to be foggy when we have a feral alpha running around."

Her hand lashed out again and this time her wedding ring caught his cheek bringing the blood to the surface to well out of the cut she left and trickle down his cheek. He could have caught her arm. He could have stopped her. But he reflected that he was a trained dog. Trained to take the abuse because if he didn't take this abuse what she would escalate to would be so much worse.

"I don't need you to be hard for the kind of fun I'm talking about." She purred as she raked her nails down his chest.

"I need to be uninjured too."

Victoria rolled her eyes. "Kate will be here soon. She can take over then. Once she's here we'll have some fun."

Chris didn't quite hide his shudder. Her visage twisted and he braced himself for the next slap.

She didn't like that. Didn't like it when he flinched. A hard knee slammed up into his testicles and he fell forward into the door jam.

"I'm going to the supermarket and to see what this backwoods little hellhole has in the way of shops. I want to make Ally's favorite tonight. You know she hates the first day of school."

Chris stayed where he was, breathing through his clenched teeth, until her heard the door close. Then he slowly made his way up the stairs to his room. He wiped the few tears that had leaked from his eyes away before opening the door though he knew Peter could smell them. He didn't look at the wolf as he limped to the window and unlocked it. "Come on in Derek." He said through a voice that was a little too thick despite his best efforts.

The boy clambered through the window silently and gave Chris a look of concern. Chris gave him a tight smile as he sat down on the bed on the side opposite Peter. He watched the reunion between uncle and nephew with a grimace.

"Derek. Look at you. All grown up."

"Uncle Peter." Derek looked like he wanted to crumble into Peter's lap but didn't quite with Chris there.

"It's okay Pup. Chris is pack now. Come here let me bond you so I can get these restraints off."

"Why are you restrained?" Derek reached for the restraints but was stopped by the mountain ash inlaid.

"I've not quite been in my right mind. You know Laura abandoned me-"

"What? No she didn't. I mean she left you here but she didn't abandon you. She wouldn't."

"Oh pup. She cut my pack bonds. I've been an omega for the last four years."

"But why?"

"I don't know Pup. I didn't get a chance to ask her."

"What do you mean?"

Peter sighed. "I regained lucidity a few months ago. Not much and not for long. Packless. My healing slowed to a crawl. Between my burns and the damage to my lungs my mind retreated from all the pain. When I finally started to come out of it I was feral. It's only luck that the doctors and nurses had restrained me due to my flaying when I finally regained consciousness. My strength was gone and for the first time I became truly aware that I was alone. Completely alone. I had no pack bonds to pull on and I'm afraid I was complete insensible for a good long while. Finally my healing had progressed to the point where I could string two thoughts together. I gained the trust of a nurse. She told me Laura called every few months to check on me but even though she'd been told I was awake she didn't want to come see me. I couldn't understand it." Peter sounded genuinely confused and remorseful.

Chris certainly believed him.

It seemed Derek did too. Peter must be telling the truth.

"My thoughts were erratic. They waffled between the need to pack bond and the need for revenge. Finally I lit upon a plan. Not a great one I'll admit. I convinced the nurse I was a werewolf, that letting me run through the woods would help me heal. She believed me. Granted it's not untrue. Last several full moons she let me out to run. The first thing I did was kill a deer and carve the spiral in it. Laura might not come back for me but I knew she'd had to return for the revenge mark on her territory. It took longer for her to respond than I thought. Granted I wasn't thinking very clearly. How could I expect her to know about the deer when the nurse said she was in New York?" Peter shook his head with a grimace. "Uh…It's still not totally easy to string my thoughts together. Chris is right to keep me locked up. While he was gone I kept trying to figure out how to kill him then reminding myself not to and…" Peter sighed and shook his head.

"Laura finally came. Three nights ago I ran into her out in the preserve. I was so happy to see her. To see my alpha. I begged her to rebond me…" Peter looked up at Derek and Chris could see his eyes glowing red from here as well as Derek drawn in breath. "She refused. Snarled at me. She went to attack me…I just reacted…I lost control…I…" Peter drew in a deep breath.

"When I was able to calm down, think straight again…I…I had…I was holding her…half of her…I was horrified. My own niece! I…" Peter closed his eyes and Chris saw the tears start to fall. "Please forgive me Derek. You know I loved Laura. Love you. I would have never ever hurt her…" He took in a shuddering breath and finally Derek fell against him…only to be repelled by the restraints again.

Chris winced. "Sorry. Bond. Stabilize each other and I'll remove those." Chris stood up gingerly and pulled the keys from his pocket. He wasn't stupid enough to leave them in the house where Peter could have somehow gotten to them.

"I need to put my teeth to his throat." Peter said hoarsely.

Chris nodded and quickly undid the collar making sure to keep his hands clear and darted away. Peter was still unpredictable. Nothing wrong with being cautious.

Derek came closer again and bared his neck to his uncle. Peter gently opened his mouth allowing his teeth to gently lengthen as he placed them just so against Derek's neck. Both their eyes flashed as the bond cemented itself and both wolves seemed to slump in relief.

"How you doing Peter?"

"Better. Much better." He paused. "You're right. I remember what I was planning on doing to get my revenge. Fuck." He shook his head. "Did I really corner a school bus driver, on a school bus, at school, in the middle of the night, on a full moon, while trying to call a recently bitten and completely out of control beta?"

"Yes." Chris said dryly.

"You did what?" Derek said more than a little incredulously. His face was buried in his uncle's shoulder but he reluctantly moved as Chris moved about unlocking the restraints around Peter.

"I didn't. I was intending to. Chris here grabbed me outside of the hospital last night. Ever read the story of Pegasus Soulis?"

Derek frowned for a few moments. "Dead Greek woman? A shade who wandered into Chrono's' prison in Tartarus and woke up in her body years before she was to die?"

Chris raised an eyebrow. "Never heard that one but it sounds right. I wasn't dead and I certainly didn't cross Chrono to my knowledge. Last night around 11 I woke up from what I thought was a nightmare only instead of the cheap motel room I'd went to sleep in I was here. Phone told me the date." Chris shook his head as he watched the cuddling wolves and explained himself to Derek. "My daughter, Allison, around this time next year was killed by a possessed boy but everything that happened can be traced back to last night. After making sure Allison was okay-"

"In some state of undress apparently." Peter quipped.

Chris sighed. He knew the wolves would have heard everything downstairs. "My underwear. I wasn't thinking straight. I just had to see that she was alive. Anyway I knew last night was the night Peter got out and bit Scott McCall. I knew I had to stop him and I did."

"Did you ever." Peter groused from where he was cradling Derek in his lap. He was taking Chris' words about Derek just being a scared little boy to heart. He was growling sub-vocal and running his hand through the thick black hair. Derek seemed to be trying not to cry against him. Boy was touch starved but Laura had only been dead three days which meant she hadn't been taking care of him like she was supposed to. Peter squeezed him a bit tighter utilizing his alpha strength so Derek would really feel secure. The puppy nearly went limp against him. Peter could smell the longing coming from Chris. He looked up and smirked. "Don't worry Hunter. You'll get your cuddles next."

* * *

As much as Chris wanted them to the wolves couldn't stay at his house. It was just too dangerous. He found the apartment Peter had taken in the future, the other future, and with some greased palms got the security checks cleared out. He also got Peter quietly discharged.

He left the wolves at the apartment where Peter could do what he did to get the Hale funds and get things furnished. At the moment he was having a couple of beds delivered.

Chris swung by the school to pick up his daughter. She was talking to Lydia Chris was happy to see. Scott and Stiles were staring at them from across the quad before disappearing towards the lacrosse field and the locker rooms.

Allison turned and waved at him. He waved back with a soft smile. By the gods it was so good to see her. He loved that girl more than the breath in his body. He loved the girl beside her and those two boys across the quad and the wolves across town and the shy curly haired blond following the boys into the locker room and by the gods he was gonna keep them all safe this time or die trying.

Notes: This is a one shot. I have no desire to rewrite the whole show around this premise. With a future knowledge Chris Argent and a Sane Alpha Peter Hale most of the conflict in the show gets neatly sidestepped anyway. Derek's nineteen here because that's what age he was supposed to be in S1 before they reconned it. Chris gets Kate and Gerald in the house, knocks them out and turns a blind eye to Peter brutally murdering them. He introduces Peter to the magic that is sniper rifles to fulfill the rest of his vendetta. With Gerald out of the way Chris PROMPTLY divorces Victoria and with Peter's legal aid gets custody of Allison who he very firmly does not tell about the supernatural. You can assume Chris rescues Issac, brings Sheriff Stilinski in on the supernatural shit that's gonna hit the fan in the area (which means Stiles is quickly in the know as well), Peter with his fuck you up rep convinces Deucalion to politely fuck off, Allison and Scott go quietly make goo-goo eyes at each other, Stiles and Derek snark at each other obsessively while Chris and Peter sit and wait for them to figure it out and Derek and Stiles take bets on how long it's gonna take Chris and Peter to figure their own shit out.


End file.
